Apparatus for coating a fibrous strip



` Oct.` 9,` 1945.Y c. FIELD APPARATUS FOR c oATING AA PIPRQUS STRIP Y original Filed June 22 NCM Eux H xn@ dmzzuofm JH-H NN .40 M

I\0'2t.`9,4 19.45. l c, HELD l y 2,386,203

`APPARATUS FOR COATING `A FIBROUS STRIP originalfiled'June-zz, 1959 s sheets-sheet s Oef. 9, 194,5.

' CLEIELD APPARATUS Fon COMING 'FIBROUS STRIP original Filed June 2.2, `19s9 8 sheets-Sheet y c. FIELD APPARATUS-FOR COATING A FLBROUS STRIP Oct. 1945. f -i C HELD v 2,386,203

" APPARATUS PoRk coAT'ING A4 PIBRoUs STRIP original Filed June 22, i959 a'gheetsfsneet 7 ocr. 9, 1945.`

c. `FIELD `APPARMUS FOR "COATING A FIBRUS STRIP origial FildlJune 22, 19:5 9 s sheets-snaps Panarea oef. 9, 1945 UNITED ,srA'rl-:s PlrrlzN'ry ori-lcs -N ,2.38am y Crosby Field, Brooklyn. N. Y.,\assignor to Brillo Manufacturing Company, Inc., a corporation of New York Application August 2, 1940, Serial No. 349,731,

which is a division ofjapplicatlon Serial `No.` 280,532, June 22, 1939. pllcation September 19, 1941, Serial No. 411,493

The present invention relates to apparatus for coating a iibrous strip and is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 349,731, filed August 2. 1940, now Patent No. 2,320,858, dated June l, 1943. `Patent No. 2,320,858, was divided vmaterial in solution, the excess liquid is expelled and the coating material, present predominantiy on the surfaces of the strip, is solidified. 1* For convenience of illustration my invention is disclosed herein as embodied inl a plant for making metal wool pads, but it will beunderstood that my apparatus maybe usefully employed in coating a variety of materials, with a variety of coating materials in varying degrees of nuidity and it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention except as may be required by the prior art and the appended claims.

As described 'herein my apparatus for coating a ilbrous strip is combined in a plant .wherein a fluffy strip of springy steel wool fibers is drawn through successive coordinated rotary mechanisms which operate progressively; first, nonpositively feeding the, strip; then spreading the a ribbon of a predetermined width and corresponding thinness; then, while in suchcondition, discharging coating material in the form of fluid soap on the ribbon; then squeezing it to to' render the ribbon relatively inelastic so that for the next succeeding step it is ofpractically ilxed length, Width and thickness; then measuring and cutting off successive equal lengths, containing substantially equal amounts of the steel wool liber and of soap therein.

The latter operation is preferably performed on the peripheral bed 'of a rotary pad-forming unit from which the completed pads are automatically ejected onto a conveyor, for delivery to a final frying mechanism, which in turn may .supply an automatic boxing machine.

Special features ofthe invention include means lor regulating the initial widening of the strip by means applying tension thereto during .the widening; means for regulating the degree of pressure applied in impregnating the ribbon" with ystrip laterally, widening and thinning it to form l Aals Divided and this api i 1 claim, (ci. 91-11) soap, means employing less pressure, preferably applying it elastically, for squeezing excess soap therefrom; means for drying the resulting. ribbon to a desired degree; means for cutting of! equal lengths 9i' the ribbon; means for winding the same to form a roll; and means for pressing the roll to `predetermined volume to form a flattened pad having steel wool laminae theA surfaces .of which are more or less stuck together by partially dried soap. t

The product is va relatively compact pad, which keeps its shape muchbetter than unsoaped pads,

yet readily absorbs water and becomes elastic, when used for washing and scrubbing purposes.

By employing `the properly adjustable appa-` Fig. 1 is a diagram of strip-supplying widening, ribbon-Soaping, partial drying, pad-forming and pad delivery` mechanism;

Fig. 1a is a similar diagram showing a modifled form of the unit wherein thev Widener is omitted and a different method is used for impregnating the ribbon with soap;

Fig. 1b is a diagram of an arrangement for continuous supply of wool strip:

Fig. 2 is a vertical section ofthe paddle wheel feeder at right angles to the axis, taken on the line 2 2, Fig. 3: v

Fig. 3, is a vertical section in the plane ofthe axis on the line 3 3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 451s a side elevation, partly in section, showing the Widener for Widening the strip to approximate ribbon form, in combination with the apparatus for impregnating the ribbon with soap;

Fig. Sis-a top pian view of the Widener and.

soaper as shown in Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a. section through the 9 8, Fig. 5;

Fig. 'l is a vertical section on the line 1 1,

Fig. 6, showing one of the Widener disc assemdener on line i blies;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the drum for drying Fig. 14 is a sectional view of the pad on the line M-ld, Fig. 13;

Fig. l is a perspective vview indicating in a general way the layers constituting the pad when the same is carefully unfolded; and

Fig. 16 is a section on the line lli-I6, Fig. 15, indicating ina general way the tendency to greater concentration of the soap on the surfaces of V the ribbon when layers thereof are pressed in contact to form the pad.

In the diagram, Fig. 1, the fluffy wool strip, a,

f is shown as drawn from a carton, b, in which a convenient length thereof has been deposited and being without twist, lies'in more or less zig-zag formation.

The rear end of the strip was first carried up over the edge of the carton and hangs down a couple of feet or so, as shown at c; and thereafter the strip was allowed to fall into the carton until it was lled. To makeclearerfwhat actually happens, it may be well to repeat that Figs. 1 and 1b are entirely diagrammatic; and to explain that in practice the strip as customarily drawn from the knives of a metal wool cutting machine, comprises very long, fine, curly fibers that extend lengthwise in the strip; and, when straightened by stretching, they approximate parallelism. Moreover, initially, when fed into f receptacle b. the strip is a very fluffy, light-flexible, somewhat iiattened cylinder. Consequently,

the zig-zags, though fiatwise and non-twist, do

not in fact have; the regularity which might be inferred from the merely diagrammatic showing in Figs. 1 and 1b; or even from the showing' in Figs. 2 and 3 where the strip has been considleading end of a second carton b1, withethe wol strip similarly arranged therein; and any number of cartons b2, b3, bd, may be thus joined, with intervening loops cl, c2, c3, etc.

The strip a is drawnv from carton b and fed forward by paddle-wheel feeder I which nonpositively feeds and shakes the incoming and outgoing portion cf the uffy strip (see Fig. 2).

determined width and corresponding thickness (see Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7)` VThis widened ribbon then passes to and through the roll mechanism 3 for impregnating therein'a desired amount of fluid soap (see Figs. 4, 5, 8), the soap being supplied from tank 4 and pipes connected therewith. The soap impregnated ribbon theny passes to and around the drier drum 5 (see Figs. 9, 10 and 11), a suitable number of times, thence to the ribbon "cut-of'rolling and compressing padder 6 (Fig. 12), the latter being designed and operating somewhat as shown and described in my co-,pending application Ser. No. 247,727, filed Dec. 24, 1938.

The paddle wheel feeder shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3, is rotated at speed required to harmonize with traction of the Widener, and subsequent mechanisms, through driving mechanism described hereinafter. As is obvious from Figs. 2 and 3, the paddle wheel consists of parallel end discs la, la, ,held together by radial webs riveted thereto, the Webs terminating in parallel, rounded, preferably cylindrical, strip engaging elements. The peripheries of the discs ia, project radially, to aord lateral guide surfacesv for the iiuy strips. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the paddles, preferably'four, are arranged in diametrically oppositepairs, ib, lc, and. id, le. The paddles I b, Ic, being of bare metal, are, or quickly become, polished and slippery so that their engagement with the strip affords relatively slight non-positive feeding effect; but the other pair of paddles, Id, ie, have their strip engaging portions covered with canvas, ig, which affords much greater frictional engagement with the strpso that the feeding effect of each, though slight at times of initial and nal engagement withthe strip, nevertheless, during the intermediate time of more direct thrust on the strip, they 4are effective in practically preventing either forward or -rearward slip of the strip. As indicated in Fig. 2, the incoming portion of the fluffy strip v approaches the paddle wheel at a upward angle spliced down-hanging portion c includes the When the bottom of carton b has been reached,

the ribbon continues being drawn over the paddle wheel i, thus carrying the spliced loop c, which includesthe leading end of the. strip from carton b2; and this continues without interruption,

thus making it a continuous uninterrupted proc- J somewhat as indicated in said Fig. 2. Similarly, the outgoing forwardly fed portion of the strip slants downward fromthe paddle wheel tothe Widener, somewhat as shown. The paddle wheel is thus located adjacent a 'shifting convergence point of shifting incoming and outgoing por tions of the ribbon, so the rotation of the paddle wheel has the eect of rapidly raising and loweringpthe deection points of the ribbon. y

This will be evident from consideration of an f wise and transverse wave motion to both the incoming and outgoing portions of the strip. Ad-

vantageous results are that the strip is stretched longitudinally, permitting readjustment of the bers toward parallelism; chips and loose frag- -ments of wool are shaken from the stretching, shifting bers of the strip; and, as concerns the incoming portion-said motions are very effective in shaking uplifted folds of the strip free from the folds .of lower layers, on which they have been resting in the'carton. v

4revolution of the paddle wheel'there are instants when the wool strip is quite free to slip.; The point is that when an increased/rate of feed results from diii'erences in elasticity of the strip, or a substantial increase in the width or weight of a portion of ribbon then passing, the strip will be fed forward too fast, thereby permitting the portion between the paddle wheel and the Widener to dip downward to an excessive extent. This is immediately obvious to the operator, who,

vby merely laying a restraining hand on the strip passing from the carton to the paddle wheel, may retard the strip during one or more of the slip contact instants, thereby restoring the normal tension of this portion of the strip.

'Ihe somewhat flattened and stretchedI steel wool strip passes from the paddle wheel to the Widener 2 (Figs. 4 and '1) `through a converging guide 2a, friction of which appliessome additional resistance and stretching eifect as the strip is pulled -into the Widener." From the guide 2a, the strip passes over a canvas belt 2b, mounted on idle entrance roller 2c and an exit vroller 2d, which latter is mounted on shaft 2e rotated by sprocket 2f, through and in synchro' nism with the rolls of the soaper 3. The intermediate idler rollers 2g are for supporting the belt and strip thereon in operative relation to four gangs of idling discs. The ilrst three gangs are in oppositely skewed pairs operating upon the upper surface of the stretched strip, where it is elastically supported between the idler rolls 2g. The first gang consists of two sets of four discs, 2h, 2i, skewed in opposite directions to spread the uppersurface of the strip, from the center line thereof, a/certain distance outward.

'I'he second set of discs 21, 2k, consist of three discs each, interleaved and rotating in parallel planes with discs 2h, 2i, adapted to hold and further stretch edgewise the upper surface of the by screws 2q'. It is formed with lubricant ducts 2r, and has an anti-friction metal sleeve 2s tted paddle wheel is operated at a sufficient speed to thereon. The discs 2t and intermediate spacers 2u, are laterally clamped together by rivets 2v, and this assembly lits sleeve 2s; and these are detachably held on` thestud `by end plate 21o secured by screw 2m.

Theribbon thus stretched, widened and laterallyrolled, passes through the converging wool guide 3a (Figs. 4, 5, 8); then over roll 3b, which is geared to and rotates roll 3c. As most simply shown in Fig. 8, the ribbon passes over the top of roll 3b, and fluid soap of proper consistency is supplied thereon through nozzle 3d.' Thence the ribbon carrying thesoap passes downward between said rolls 3 b, 3c, the pass between being carefully adjusted so as to apply the right pressure for thoroughly impregnating the ribbon with the soap; The adjustment is by screw 3e swivelled in iixed standard 3f. v

The ribbon being thoroughly saturated, then passes through a second pair of rolls 3g; 3h which strip: These discs 2i, 2k, are interleaved with a third set 2m, 2n, rotating in the same planes with the discs 2h, 2i, and operating lto further spread and roll outward the upper surface of the strip. A metallic comb, 2z, Fig. 4, projects close to but out of contact with -belt 2b, to draw oi'i' static electricity, which might otherwise accumulate sumciently to ignite themetal wool.

The widened strip is then drawn under a single gang of idler discs 2o, extending entirely across the widened strip and rotating in planes exactly parallel with the direction of the movement of the strip, thereby holding it in its laterally spread condition.

4All of these discs are idlers mountedy forvery free rotation, as shown in Fig. '7, so as to be easily rotated by the strip as it is carried under them on unsupported portions of the canvas belt, assisted by the traction of rolls of the soaper 3.

Figi? shows one ofthe skewed vdisc gangs v `in vertical axial'section. `Stud shaft 2p projects through and is bolted tostationary side bar 2q'.

are geared together', the roll 3h being the driving roll. while the driven roll 3g is mounted in the ends of two levers 3i, held parallel by the rod 3j', each lever being pivoted at 3i and springpressed toward roll 3h by a thrust spring 3k on a bolt, 3m. Each bolt is adjustably tensioned by a nut 31e which limits the extent to which oll 3g can swing toward roll 3h, while the spring alfords predetermined spring pressure for squeezing excess iluid soap out of the ribbon, vand this pressure will be constant regardless of varying thicknesses of said ribbon.

From squeezing rolls 3g, 3h, the ribbon passes over roll Sn and down between it and` roll 3p, which is slightly spaced from but gearedto roll 311. From roll 3p, the strip passes up over roll Sq and thence to the drum drier 5. These last three rolls are for applying proper frictional traction on thesoaped ribbon, and distributing it over sufficient frictional surface to avoid danger of rupturing the ribbon.

All the above described Soaping rolls are provided with Scrapers s, for removing soap that sticks to them; and, as shown in Fig. 8b, these Scrapers may consist of spring blades s2 held between bars sl, s3, by rivets s4; bar sl including end brackets s5 with holes s6, for securing bolts.

Theiluid' soap of composition and at temperature necessary for maintaining the propendegree of fluidity (viscosity), say 180 F. to 185 F.,

is maintained in tank 4a. (Fig. 4), at a level safely below the lowermost of the strip engaging ro11s,.3g, 3h, and its temperature is maintained constant by steam circulating in jacket 4b from inlet 4c to" outlet 4d. The `fluid soap is drawn downward from the bottom of the tankthrough pipe le, controlled by valve 4f and propelled by rotary pump Ig, dischargingthrough pipe 4h,

leading to nozzle 3d. Excess soap, if any, falls to the bottom of the tank 4a, for recirculation; and (Figure 1) the intake of the pump is supplied with additional soap from soap kettle through pipe 47', controlled by valves 4k, 4k.

Thevarious soaping rolls are driven fromv a source of power described .below, through gear 4m (Fig. 5) on drive main shaft in, carrying pinion 4p (Fig. 8), meshing with pinion 4p', meshing with gear lq on shaft 4r of-roll 3h, which latter, as above described, is geared directlyto the squeeze roll 3g. y

As best shown in Fig. 4, the shaft 4r of roll 3h carries a sprocket 4s around which passes j sprocket chain ltjwhich, as shownV by the arrows,

, impregnating roll 3b, thence back over sprocket 4u on the shaft of the top feed-out roll'3q, thence a downward to the sprocket 4s on the shaft 4r of squeeze roll 3h, whence the driving power is deticity is considerably decreased, although its tenrived. The shaft of the first soaping rll` 3b carl ries asprocket lw, which through sprocket chain 2f drives sprocket 2f on the shaft 2e of roller 2d which drives the Widener belt 2b; and'sprocket 4a: on the shaft of roll 3c drives chain 4g which drives sprocket 4e on the shaft of roll 3u.

The'soaped strip, as it leaves the last roll Sq of the soaper, is a relatively thin ribbon of deflnite width, which then passes to the drum drier 5 (see Figs. 9, 10 and-11). It is now of relatively heavy weight compared with its thickness, and its longitudinal elasticity has been greatly decreased, while an important degree of transverse fluillness remains.

At the entrance of the drier the ribbon engages between forks of a steadying `guide 5a, which damps 'out vibrations which might otherwise be set up due to the relatively high speed of feed of the ribbon, and which guides the ribbon to the drum,tangent thereto, so that. the ribbon is wound thereon as a true-cylinder convolution. As such, it is wound under, up and over'the drum 5b until it leaves the drum and passes over and around an idler transfer roller, 5c, which is flanged and properly spaced laterally out of alignment with said first convolution. The portion of the ribbon intervening between its point of tangency with the drum and its point of tangency with the transfer roller, is smoothly guided to permit this lateral shift without distortion.;

also to axially twist it 180 to bring its exterior face in contact with the drum. For this purpose the ribbon is first engaged by a, depending finger 5d, which smoothly twists it 90 for the lateral transfer. It then slants across to the farsde of a diagonal guide finger 5e, which smoothly twists it about 45 more, whence it passes under horizontal rod 57', which completes the 180 twist, and guides it down between the flanges of said transfer roller. This transfer roller, 5c, is slightly more than one ribbon width to the right of the first convolution, lso that it presents the ribbon to the drum in a second true cylinder convolution kwhich passes under, up and over the drum to a second twisting -flnger 5d, then a second diagonal finger 5e, and horizontal rod Ei,

,turn over and guide the ribbon to a second the air and back to the drum, permits freer evapsile strength is increased and some-lof thelflbers retain enough resilience to, impart a" desirable degree of fluilness. In this connection, it is to be noted that even after'being compressed to pad form, the structure is so porous and. so manyy pad elasticity and resilience increase. i

The `drum is rotated at desired speed by sprocket 5f, on drum shaft 6g, through sprocket chain 5h, driven by sprocket 6i on shaft 5k, which is driven 'at speed harmonizing with the'other parts ofthe mechanism, by means described `hereinafter.

As best shown in Fig. 11, the steam, heated to desired temperature, say, 300 F., enters through supply pipe 5m and passes into the drum through the rotary hollow shaft in which supports the drum. The connection between the stationary row of spring scraper blades 5w engage the part of the periphery of the drum where it is left bare by ribbon passing to the transfer rollers 5c. They are held by lever arm 5.1:, as shown.

40 As shown in Fig. l, the ribbon, which has been impregnated with soap in quantity and disposivtion proper for insuring theA desired degree of formed therein, are similar' to those described for unsoaped wool ribbon, in my said copending application; with the important difference, however.

that for use with soaped ribbon it has been found that soap sticking on the relatively cool parts of the rotary` padder, will very soon congeal, and this will interfere with the proper functioning of the padder. This applies particularly to the exterior peripheral bed on which the ribbon is oration from thev ribbon, and this may be promoted by using steam radiator 5e.

It is to be noted thatif the ribbon is dried too much before entering the rotary pad making machine 8, the resulting pad will be a too closely compacted mass of wool and soap; and if lt is not sufliciently dry, thenthe resulting pad will be likely to be irregular in shape. The above described deflecting transfer fingers, 5d, e, and rod 5i, successively engaging oppste faces ofthe ribbon, operate to smooth and regiits' condition when it' passed from the soaper to .wound and to the projecting Alatera1 flanges by which it is guided. The mechanism of the padder and recesses in the bed prevent effective use of Scrapers such as are used on lthe drumy drier, but I have found that by arranging a suitable number of steam iets, particularly about the periphery of the rotor, as diagrammatically indicated at`6a, 6b, etc. (Fig. 1), they willbe effective to wash off and carry out of the line of travel of the ribbon, any such soap; and they will also tend to maintain said periphery, and also the entire interior operating mechanism, at a temperature sumciently above normal to maintain a suitable degree of Vplasticity for the soap during the various pad-forming operations.

Referring now to Fig. 12, which, for present purposes, may be considered as a diagram of the operations performed, and without going into details` as to the mechanism whereby the' various wool engaging instrumentalities are operated, the

i accesos function of said instrumentalities may bebrieiiy described as follows: y e

The ribbon passes to the padder around flanged guide-roller 6c;` then around an arc of the peripheral bed 6d, to where it is held by clampe. There are six 'sets of pad-forming instrumentalities, and as the wheel rotates in the direction of the arrow, pulling the ribbon upward, the ribbon is tensioned-enough to make it lie smoothly' although, as above noted, itsstretchability is limited. Further rotation carries each ot the six sets of'pad-forming instrumentalities through a cycle of pad-forming operations, successive 60 arcs of operation being indicated by positions At the lower end of arc A, clamp Se is holding theend of the ribbon while rotation is wrapping it around a60 arc of the peripheral bed'd. A little more rotation will cause the, lowermost trough-like boxing-in member Si which is advjacent F, to be pushed endwise toward the oblstill continues to hold the rearward cut end ofthe ribbon until the wheel is rotated enough to bring a succeeding boxer into position A, and a succeeding clamp 6 and its adjacent knife 8g, into their respective clamping and cut-oil positions.

As rotation continues, the clamp Be beyond boxer if, releases the forwardend of the cut-od length of ribbon which is then retained by the lower edges of the boxeras .shown at A, until a spinning head 6i carrying two spinning needles, moves forward toward the observer, into lateral engagement with the boxed-in portion of the ribbon, and winds in the oppositely extending outside portions, thereby forming an approximately cylindrical roll of ribbon. In practice there are two aligned spinners simultaneously engaging the ribbon, edgewise, from opposite sides. Y

During this operation, the boxer Bf passes posi- `tion B and approaches position C, where the spinning needles are withdrawn, leaving the rolled-up ribbon in the b'oxer.

By the time theN boxer reaches position D, the

piston 6h has compressed the. cylinder against the top of the boxer, forming it into a nat pad.

Thereupon said boxer slides rearward away from the observer, leaving the compressed pad with its edges wedged between the peripheral Vside flanges. f

Between D and E, the piston retreats, leaving a space I,below the pad for removal of .the pad by stationary stripper 6k, as the rotori carries said pad past position E. These pads Vfall on conveyer 6in, which carries'away the moist or semidry pad to a drier where drying is completed.

From position E, the peripheral bed is empty, and the above instrumentalities remain retracted until the padder reaches initial position F, where the incoming ribbon makes' tangential contact with the peripheral bed, thus completing rotation which completes six pads;

In the spaces where there is no ribbon on the to the diagram, Fig.` 1.

peripheral bed, the above described` steam Jets may be applied for cleaning off and washing away soap that may havestuckto the padder.

The proximate local driving means for each unit of the apparatus, have been described in connection with each, but the4 system whereby the moving parts of all units are harmonized one with another, are best understood by reference In general, it may be said that the speed ot the iinal unit, the padder, determines aestandard harmonizing speed for the drum drier l which l precedes it. The drum drier drive shaft is a primary speed determiner for the drive-shaft of the soaper I, and the soaper drives the Widener 2. through gearing imparting theproper speed to its-,feeder belt; andV through another chain v of. gearings, the soaper drives the paddle wheel feeder at the speed desired for it.

The gearin'gs between the vdrive-shaft of the soaper and the Widener, and-the separatel drive j from a roll shaft of the soaper to the padder.

The parallel edges of the are predesigned forv propercooperation: and though driving speeds of this group as` a whole, may be manually adjustable as a whole, the basic speed thereof is made to yvary with any change of speed of drive of the drying drum. Hence in practice, it is more convenient to adjust the speed ofVA padder 5,. for a practical rate of oper-` ations of the complicated mechanism therein and then adjust' the speed Vof units 5, 3, 2 and i to supplyvsoaped ,and partially dried ribbon to the padder when the padder is operating at said practical rate. -4

Hence, as diagrammatically indicated on Fig. l, a constant speed motor 'I drives a gear Vpinion la, meshing with gear teeth 1b on a wheel that rotatesthe padder. Sprocket chain 1c from the shaft 'of said pinion 1a drives the conveyer that carries away the pads. The ribbon-forming and drying units are driven from a separate motor 8 which rotates the input shaft of a Reeves drive, which is ya. wellv known speed varying mechanism characterized by spaced-apart pulleys and a belt connecting them, the pulleys beingadjustable for increasing the effective periphery of the drive pulley 8a and for corelatively decreasing the eiective periphery ofthedriven pulley, 8b,without varying the operative length of the belt, between them.

In the present case, the variable speed output shaft, 8b of this Reeves drive No. 1, rotates pulley Cc on the same shaft with the above described sprocket pinion Bion shaft' 5k which drives/the drum drier through sprocket chain 5711, and sprocket wheel 5f as already described. On the same shaft 5k there is a second sprocket wheel actuates chain 8i driving the previously described mainfshaft 4r of the soaper. As shown in Fig. 5,

the shaft 4r carries (Figure 1)" theisprocket Iy which through sprocket chain' drive 42 rotates the paddle wheel.

How this shaft drives other shafts of the soaper 3, and of the Widener 2, and oi paddle wheel I, has

already been described. The point` isthat the r Reeves drive No. 1, controls the lspeed o! V'the drum drier and this speed cannot be altered without proportionally changing the speedY of the input shaft of Reeves drive No; l2; but a secondary or -superposed speed variation maybe imposed on the soaper, Widener and paddle by, adjusting saidA Reeves drive No.2.

While the padder and Reeves drive No. l are shown as driven by separate motors, this is merely for convenience, particularly in running or starting them separately. The motor 8 could be omitted and the padder motor 1 connected to the input shaft 8a of said Reeves drive No. 1; or the hook-up f could be otherwise changed in various ways which would provide properly harmonizing speeds Yfor the various mechanisms.

In this connection, it will be recognized that" harmonizing" is not quite the same thing as synchronizing sincethe essential is running certain parts at such relative speeds as will maintain proper tension on the ribbon at critical stages vthe pad at 9a;`also the practically unvarying width of the ribbon, whereby the end 9b. of the pad, presents a definite, fairly even plane surface. In cross-section, Fig. 14, the approximation of regular reentrant folds 9a at the ends of the pad are shown, and attempt is made to indicate thel more or less diffused strata of soap 9c, whereby adjacent surfaces of theV ribbon were stuck together; also the relatively fluffy sprngy layers 9d between them. This is also indicated inthe crosssection, Fig. 16.

In the modification shown in Figs. la, 8a, all

parts of the apparatus may be the same as in Fig. l, except that the WidenerA may beomitted and the soaping rolls are submerged in the fluid soap. l

The woolstrip passes through funnel2a, and around flanged idler rolls 2h', 2j', and 2m', which afford some resistance to traction; thence down into the fiuid soap, whichr affords additional resistance; thence around submerged traction roller 2d', which is driven by sprocket chain 2e', driven from the submerged impregnating roll 3b', which is .geared to roll 3c. The pair of rolls 3b', 3c', being for the purpose of impregnating the tensioned ribbon with fluid soap, vthe roll 3b maybe made vertically adjustable to vary the spacing of the pass between them, similarly to krolls 3b, 3c, of

Fig. 8. From roll 3c', the impregnated ribbon passes to squeeze rolls 3g, 3h, which are located' above the level of the liquid the same as in Fig. 8, and above these are the same frictional traction rolls'3n, 3p; and the final exit roll 3q, as in Fig. 8.

Because of this new submerged position of impregnating rolls 3b', 3c', the drive from shaft 4r of the stationary squeeze roll 3h, is through a sprocket chain 4t which slants downward around the sprocket of'the fixed impregnating roll 3c',

- then directly upward over the sprocket or friction roll 3p, then up over the sprocket of the exit friction roll 3q, then straight down to the sprocket of the fixed squeeze roll.

In this Fig. 8a modification, each Soaping roll is provided with a scraper, s, like those used in the preferred soaper, Fig. 8. l v

When Widener 2 is thus omitted, the funnel 2a' idler rolls 2h', 2j', 2m', together with the viscosity and depth pressure of the fiuid soap, oppose the aseaaoa traction, and thereby considerably stretch, flatten and widen the strip toward ribbon form; but these effects are somewhat less regular than in the preferred form;y so, it results that the flattening and widening of the ribbon, are somewhat less regular and seem to occur mostly in the excess squeezing rolls 3g, 3h. Moreover when such ribbon is submerged, it does not take the soap in quite the same way, because the ribbon has not been stretched laterally. r'Ifhesoap seems not to penetrate as deeply below the surface of the ribbon; and the amount of soap impregnated is not vso easily adjusted.

For either form of soaper (Figs. l, la) the fiufy metal wool strip may be supplied in any desired way; and rwhere the automatic means or methods are employed, they may be widely varied. For such variation, the order of importance of the generic and specific novel features herein disclosed are, first, non-positive traction for the feed means; second, traction by a power driven rotor `having peripheral contact surface of relatively great frictional traction, alternating with surfaces of minimum tractionfthird non-contacting peripheral spaces between surfaces of maximum and minimum traction, to permit the varying traction to cause radial and endwise shaking of the strip; fourth, non-thrust, horizontal-layer arrangement of the strip supply in a receptacle, or a series of such receptacles Ihaving the end of the bottom layer of one receptacle connected with the leading end of the top layer of the next receptacle.

There are several important reasons why all my purposes are best served by the above described cascade-like arrangement of a series of separate receptacles, each adapted to loosely contain zig-zags of the fiuffy wool strips. A primary reason is that the rotary padder, which sets the speed of all antecedent parts of the apparatus, produces pads at a very high rate; and this uses up strip faster than it is now customarily produced by any one group of knives 'of a steel wool cutting machine; consequently, lI prefer to keep up the strip supply by taking lengths as long as can be conveniently handled, either from different machines, or from several different groups of knives of a, single machine. Furthermore, the speed of operation of the drum drier and also of the ribbon Widener and soaper have to be delicately adjusted; also, as heretofore explained in great detail, it is desirable to have the rate of supply of fiuffy strip, delicately responsive to end traction of the Widener, applied through a considerable length of strip. freely suspended, and said length is kept up by non-positive, self -accommodating feeding means.

The means for and method of applying the viscous fluid soap may be varied, provided it permits of properly controlling the amount anddistribution of the soap in the ribbon.

The means for and method of drying soaped ribbon may be varied provided it permits of properly controlling the temperature and degree of drying or cooking of the soap.

The partially dried soaped ribbon may be out in lengths and shaped as pads by hand or with or without auxiliary mechanism, but where a compressor is used it is preferably heated and cleaned by `steam jets.

While these and other variations, or omissions are possible, withoutl departing from the spirit of my invention, it will be obvious that every one of the novel features hereof, is specifically designed for use in combination with all other novel features, and thatsuch'ornissions or variations are likely to be detrimentaL'in greater or.

and a second roll assembly, said roll assemblies being spaced along the ribbon to provide a tensioned length of the ribbon therebetween with each of said roll assemblies being tightly contacted by the ribbon to provide a positive frictional engagement without slipping there being a driving relationship Vwhich controls the movement of the ribbon through each assembly, means to supply liquid to the ribbon whereby the outer layer of stant stream of the liquid onto the ribbon im mediately before the ribbon passes through said the tensioned portion oithe ribbon is thoroughly wetted, the rolls of one of said rollassemblies` having a fixed pass therebetween through which the ribbon passes to be squeezed thereby with the result that the wetting of the ribbon is facilitated, the rolls of the other of said roll assem` blies being spring-urged toward each other and having a variable pass therebetween through which the ribbon passeswith the result that a substantially constant pressure is exerted on the ribbon to squeeze excess liquid therefrom; and stopmeans to limit the minimum thickness of said variable pass. i

` 2. Apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein, said'means to supply the liquid to theribbon includes means to discharge a substantially con-v pair of rolls having a fixed pass therebetween.

3. Apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein, means to supply liquid to the ribbon includes a container having a body of the liquid therein at a level above the level at which the ribbon passes through the container, and wherein said pair of rolls having a fixed pass therebetween is positioned beneath the level of the liquid.

4.` Apparatusa's described in claim 1 wherein, the liquid is congealableon said pairs of rollers and scraper means is provided at eachrollerto scrap the congealed liquid therefrom.

5. In apparatus for coating a ribbon of metal wool, or the like, the combination including means for imposing a drag upon the ribbon of t,

metal w'ool, a rst roll assembly, a second roll assembly, and means for supplying liquid to the ribbon; said means for imposing a drag being adapted to cooperate with'said rst roll assembly to tension ribbon therebetween, said means for supplying liquid to the ribbon being positioned to vsubject the ribbonto liquid between saidmeans for imposing a,drag and said first roll assembly, saidrstroll assembly having a fixed pass therethrough, and said second roll as` sembly having a resiliently variable pass therethrough.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein' said means for supplying liquid-.to the ribbon comprises discharge means adjacent the path followed by the ribbon.

7. The invention of claim 5 wherein said Ameans for supplying liquid to the ribbon comprises a. tank into whichY the ribbon passes.4

CROSBY 

